Last Day of 2011

Yesterday's movie was Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. I didn't enjoy the first Sherlock Holmes (although I am a huge fan of Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law), so I was hesitant to see it, but it is getting such great audience reviews that I thought it would be OK. Once again, it was entertaining enough not to be bad, but I was sighing throughout, wondering when it would be over. The last few minutes are AWESOME though. Our full theater, ho-hum through the film, was moved to applause by that last scene. Very cute!

I'm almost college-footballed out and the big bowls haven't even begun. There have been some great games this week though. My fave so far- Baylor/Washington. Our bowl is starting shortly. Gig em Ags!!

Tonight- New Year's Eve! We are doing our second annual Super-Nice New Year's Dinner Out, this year at a well-reviewed steakhouse we've never been to before. Then it's back to the hacienda for drinks and jello wrestling.

Everyone have a safe and happy New Year's Eve! See ya' in 2012.

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Holiday Cinema

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is really, really good. It's very dark, and an incredibly compelling mystery. And that girl has a gift for perfect revenge. Just sayin'.

The film will make you uncomfortable to your core, but I guarantee you won't leave the theater or look at your watch during that two hours and forty-five minutes. Unless you absolutely have to pee, but you'll hold it until you're doing the pee pee dance down the theater hallway as fast as you can to get back before you miss too much.

ER heartthrob Goran Visnjic looks quite different with gray hair. Still hot, but those dark eyebrows are distracting. Too much contrast. Instead of watching the movie during his two scenes, I was trying to figure out if his eyebrows didn't turn gray... or if he's coloring just the eyebrows, which would be sorta weird... and maybe he should color the brows gray if they didn't turn on their own... Distracting.

Wednesday, Jeff and I watched a movie called Arena, with Samuel L. Jackson, who is far too good an actor to have participated in any capacity. It's the first film in a while that's actually made me want to throw up. It was better than Human Centipede, but that is not saying... well, anything really. It's one of the most violent movies I've ever seen. A lot of it is Saw gory, most certainly for the shock value. Hollywood must have flat run out of movie blood when they filmed this thing. Like Centipede, I'm betting there's a drinking game to go along with it!

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Circles and Real Housewives

The commercial for the new Galaxy Nexus at Verizon features Google+ (who?) circles. The guy has a circle called "Ex-Girlfriends."



At what point would you ever interact with your exes as a group? It sounds like a nightmare I had once. Friends, if you're ever tempted to group your former significant others on your social network, please step away from the tequila and think again.

~

Now that the Photoshop project is unwrapped, I can tell you all about it! A while back, Laura and I were talking about how they should do a Real Housewives of Austin. We cast ourselves, along with Tracy, KathyL and Sharon. (Bravo, if you ever wanna get really Real, we're your girls.) I wrote a detailed blog entry about it then.

So I took an old promo photo from Real Housewives of NYC, and put our heads on their bodies. I was going to just chunk them on there, obviously fake and silly, but when Sharon's head fit seamlessly onto Bethenny's body, I decided to make it look more like a real publicity shot. It doesn't, because I'm a total hack at image manipulation, but it looks fairly close. I even created a realistic logo for the show. Because there are six ladies in this particular picture, I added Laura's friend Kim. Kim is great and would fit perfectly into our cast. She wouldn't be that new character you hate for an entire season, just because she's new. (You know what I mean? Although sometimes you hate the new girl for legitimate reasons, like she's insane. *coughKellycough*)

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Merry Christmas

A very Merry Christmas to my friends, family and blog followers! I hope all those who celebrate are having a wonderful morning with loved ones.

Here's my favorite Christmas song, "Oh Holy Night," played by Chris Daughtry (at 25m 30s):

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Writing

The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought. This in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium. -Norbet Platt

This blog is written in a very casual format. Its purpose is idle chatter, sometimes silly, sometimes serious, sometimes cheeky, very typically scattered, with commentary on whatever I'm thinking about on a given day. Behind the scenes and in other spaces, I have always been serious about writing.

I kept paper journals growing up and through college. Although raw, as journals tend to be, they were well-written accounts of everything of consequence that happened in my day, along with my thoughts and feelings about it all. (I wish so much that I still had them!)

I was a sports writer for my high school newspaper, and also a very prolific poet and song writer during my teen years. A humorous Christmas poem I wrote at age 16 was published in a Houston entertainment magazine.

As an adult, I've written three-and-a-half novel-length stories and several short stories. I have participated in fun writing challenges with friends on the web. I've also written many song parodies and a couple of new songs. I write a portion of the web content for three websites. As some of you know, I have been talking for years about writing a musical, although somehow it never seems to be the right time for it. I will get to it.

I just found out that one of my former coworkers has a blog. I've known her for years as a highly successful business woman, a manager with a particular talent for hiring people with great ideas and letting them run with them. She's a no-nonsense, get it done sort of person at work, with little time for water cooler chit chat. Well, her blog is amazing. It's extremely personal and engaging, with true stories about her life and honest, sometimes heart-wrenching observations. Her writing is flawless. I was so moved I sent her a note about it. Turns out she has a journalism degree. Who knew! She's going back to writing now, after decades of being fairly removed from it.

"It's therapeutic," she told me.

That it is. :)

So this post is to all the aspiring writers, former writers and closet writers out there. Write! For yourself or for others. Be funny or serious. Something long or short. Publish it in a blog, on a message board or Facebook for everyone to see, or share it with one special person... or no one at all. You will be glad you did.

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Shopping in the Nether Regions

I'll be in far north Austin all day today, where my friend is having her surgery. She's having a hysteroscopy, not a hysterectomy... if you remember that whole hoo-ha. There will be about three hours during the process where I'll either come home or hang out somewhere near the hospital. I'd been trying to figure out where I could shop or see a movie or something, but nothing had come to mind.

Then Jeff remembered that we are supposed to get a toothbrush for the cats. (Seriously. The vet says we need to brush their teeth because those two are particularly prone to plaque build-up.) The regular toothbrush was a fabulous toy, while an epic fail for cleaning teeth, but there is a toothbrush that fits over your fingertip that is available at the pet store.

Jeff: A cat toothbrush. That's what you can shop for while you're in the nether regions of Austin!
Me: You mean northern regions?
Lauren *spits her drink*
Jeff: Northern... nether...

Not the same.

Actually, I do need to go to The Container Store up that way for a cuter box than the one I used for my mother-in-law's Christmas gift. I used an Amazon shipping box for something very heavy. I've felt awful about it ever since I wrapped it. It needs a white box. Container Store is surely a nightmare two days before Christmas, but it's totally worth the effort for the sake of a pretty presentation. Plus... Container Store! Yay!!

~

Best quote from last night's finale of The X Factor USA--  Steve Jones saying, "Coming up- Incredible performances... and Justin Bieber!" Ahaha.

Congratulations, Melanie, the first X Factor USA winner! We loved her from her first audition! Josh, for whom I had a slight preference to win, is equally talented, with a completely different style and voice. He connects with the audience during his performances, which Melanie never really does. She can easily improve that though. If Simon's people got Carrie Underwood from the aloof singer she was on AI to the extremely personable and emotive artist she is today, they can work with Melanie on eye contact, smiling, etc.

~

Last weekend SNL had a hilarious bit with a "flirting expert" played by Kristen Wiig. You have to see it...

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A Blythe Yule to Ye!

I gave KathyL a bottle of MacAllan 15yr Fine Oak Scotch for Christmas. She was thrilled and offered me a drink. I told her I would try a teensy bit, but I have had Scotch (cheap stuff) before and it was one of the most awful things I've ever tasted. She told me this was "very different," as JeffC and many others who enjoy it have also said.

While it is infinitely smoother than what I had years ago, it still has the whiskey taste that makes me want to hurl. I had barely a few drops of it and she took the rest. Actually, I can't think of any hard liquor I like straight up in a glass. The more it can be hidden in a mixer, the better.

Cheers and Merry Christmas, Scotch lovers!


Meet Me on Monday

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
wrapping paper

2. Real or artificial tree?
artificial

3. When do you put your tree up?
the day after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take your tree down?
New Year's Day

5. Do you like eggnog?
in extremely limited quantities

6. Do you have a nativity scene?
I have the hand-poured porcelain one my grandmother made :)

7. Favorite Christmas Movie?
Love, Actually

8. Favorite Christmas cookie?
thumbprint cookies filled with red and green frosting

9. Where will you eat Christmas dinner?
at my in-laws

10. Angel, bow or star on top of your tree?
angel

11. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
trying to coordinate activities and gift exchanges with everyone when we're all so busy!

12. Do you like Fruitcake?
Does anyone?

13. What are you most excited about the holidays?
hanging out with the fam

14. Do you open presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning?
Christmas morning

15. Will you still be wrapping presents on Christmas Eve?
Nope. I'm done wrapping!

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Timeline 'n Stuff

Jeff and I went to the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar at Palmer last night with Scott and Julie. There is some seriously cool stuff there! Very unique artists. I even bought a supercute gift for a certain gardening friend. Then we had dinner at Habana. I tried the picadillo and arroz con gandules, which were both oh so awesome!! My new faves.

OK, it's time to talk Facebook Timeline. I like the whole Timeline concept- having a personal and customizable web page. It looks good and has all sorts of fun information. The problem is-- so few people ever see it. Brand new friends probably check it out once to catch up. Older friends may take a look... at some point... if they are completely bored and/or looking for ideas for their own cover photos.

Yep, that's about it.

I like the applications that can be featured on the Timeline, like Spotify and Netflix, but I don't like that to use them, you have to post all your songs and movies in the news feed. The news feed "noise" from them has already started. I don't want to see a note in my feed every time a friend listens to a song, but it would be interesting to see the last several songs they listened to on their Timeline... if I ever looked at it.

So it's a terrific idea, just a very limited audience.

Finally, from a Family Guy rerun yesterday:



"...Oh wait... I have an iPod like the rest of the world!" Bwahaha!

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Slides

I collected all my mom's slides into one box at some point. (Dear young people... Slides are photos you look at on a big screen via a projector...) The other day, I finally sat down and checked the contents to see if I should send them to my photographer uncle in Chicago. He has all the "family slides" of my grandparents, aunt, uncles and my mom during the kids' growing up years and into the early 70's. I thought all Mom's slides were part of that collection, which I've seen many many times at family gatherings.

Turns out, they are mostly she, my dad and I!  They're all from 1967-1972, when I was a baby to five years old. We have photos from then as well, so it really surprised me. There's a whole pack of slides from my first ballet class and recital. Awww. I remember running (and dancing) around in that blue tutu all day, every day, at our house.

My mother liked to take photos of scenery, so at least half of the slides are pretty local and vacation spots. I like to take photos with people in them. Even when I take a photo of a landmark or beautiful scene, I frequently stick my traveling companions in it. Just something I noticed when I was looking through them.

I want to get the slides turned into prints, but at 50 cents per slide, I need to select the ones I want from the hundreds that are there. I wish I had a lightbox or slide projector. I guess I have to just hold them up in front of a lamp. Lame!

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Spring Cleaning in December

I always get the spring cleaning bug in winter. It's usually around Christmas, because we're getting things in and out of closets and I'm appalled at the state of storage in some of them. So far, I/we have done tons of work in the now perfectly organized game room:

• completely cleaned out and re-organized the closet
• got rid of two trash bags of Lauren's stuffed animals (don't worry, she still has about 4 bags worth)
• gathered up no longer played video games and controllers to sell to Amazon

We also decided to sell all our CDs, since we store and listen to our music on computers and iPods. The last real CD any of us bought, with liner notes and everything, was about four years ago. (And major labels will no longer make CDs after 2012.) The only place I play CDs is on trips in the car, and I can use my iPhone there or burn a CD from iTunes anytime I want to. Most of the CDs in our car are mixes burned from iTunes.

Think of all the space you can clear!

Before you rid yourself of original CDs, make sure that you did indeed rip all of them to your device of choice, and also that you continue or begin to keep backups of your music. We automatically back ours up to a computer every week. There's also the cloud as a backup option.

A couple of other tips: Online stores that buy CDs are reported to pay the same as local stores (most of them ARE local stores), so you can save shipping by just selling your CDs to your local reseller. Also, they like perfect jewel cases, so I moved any CDs with cracked or scratched cases to new ones. If you don't have extras sitting around, you'll probably have mix-CDs or other random non-sellable CDs with which you can switch cases.

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Shopping.... Check!

I got my Christmas shopping done yesterday. Whee!!! KathyL and I are going to bake tons of cookie gifts today in her beautiful, new kitchen.

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering where their 2011 Christmas card and mildly amusing newsletter is from me, I didn't mail any out this year. I am thinking seriously about sending something for New Year's, but who knows.

Patrick's Sunday Seven

Here’s a list of Time magazine’s All-Time 100 greatest and most influential gadgets since 1923. Name seven of Time’s 100 All-Time Gadgets that you’ve either owned or used.

1. Apple iPod - We still have all the iPods we've purchased over the years. Four, I think. From my first (the giant fourth gen 40GB, non-color) to Lauren's teensy Shuffle
2. Logitech Harmony - best remote we've ever had. Get one! Makes a great gift!
3. Mattel Electronics Football - fun!! I still remember the sounds. And Mom telling me to turn it off.
4. Apple iPhone- finally got one this year! Better late than... wait my battery is dead again... Heh. No, I love it.
5. Palm Pilot- not sure what the model was, but I remember all the special writing required to enter data with the stylus.
6. Dirt Devil Hand Vac - yep. Had it.
7. Fujifilm Quick Snap Disposable Camera- was a genius idea for parties!

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Christmas Party

Jean's party was fun last night! We do an ornament exchange every year, where people draw numbers to determine order and each person either opens a wrapped ornament or steals an opened ornament from someone else. The exchange ends when the number one person gets to choose whether to keep her ornament or trade with someone.

I hadn't heard of the Night Before Christmas game, but we talked about it. It sounds like a really fun way to exchange ornaments, too!

We drank my Ménage à Trois Moscato at the party. It's not very sweet. It was fine, but definitely not a typical Moscato.


Saturday 9: I Will Survive

1. What in 2011 has proved to you that you are a survivor?
Absolutely nothing, which is good!

2. Have you ever stayed online for a very long time waiting for someone?
Only once or twice, years ago. I wouldn't do it today, because there are so many other methods of communication. If the person wants to talk to you, they can just contact you another way.

3. Are you REALLY ready for the holidays?
Yeah. It's low key this year, so no biggie. I still need one more gift and I have to wrap everything.

4. Did you have an imaginary friend as a kid?
Nope. Although I see how it would have made for a really cute story right at this moment.

5. What niche network do you watch the most?
HGTV

6. Have you ever seen the ocean?
Many many times. I grew up near the ocean.

7. Have you ever been hospitalized?
A few times... for a couple of surgeries, Lauren's birth and a life-threatening lung thing that completely disappeared and remains a medical mystery today.

8. What do you think of the US Republican candidates for president?
Mitt Romney- Very slick and politician-y. I hate that. I don't trust what he's saying.
Newt Gingrich- I don't like all his personal life problems. Not that most politicians don't have issues of personal integrity, but his are front and center. He is a polarizing individual I don't think would be able to get anything done. I've always found him just plain irritating.
Rick Perry- It's like Bush, Jr. all over again. Just... no. Let's not be the laughing stock of the world.
Michele Bachman- Far too conservative. A little "out there."
Ron Paul- His ideas are too fringe for him to be a realistic candidate.

Those are all the ones I know. If the Republicans can't come up with anyone I like, I'll abstain from voting for president next year. My general feeling about Obama is that he had the skills and an incredible opportunity to motivate Congress to work together, but as soon as he ran up against his first challenge with them, he gave up. He could have hung in there and chiseled away at the divides, but he just threw up his hands. He seems to approach the presidency as a drudgery, and I am surprised he's running again. There's intense pressure for the incumbent to run again though, so I get it.

Donald Trump said he might run as an Independent. Can you imagine? *shudder* He would probably commercialize the whole thing. "And now, live from the House of Representatives chamber, it's the State Farm State of the Union Address, with your host, Mario Lopez!!"

9. Could you imagine life without a computer?
And have to go to the library or own a set of encyclopedias to look up information? And use snail mail? And a typewriter? What a nightmare.

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Facebook Status of the Week

Oops- forgot my new thang!

Facebook Status of the Week

(Friends who own a daycare accompanied this status with a photo of five toddlers playing in a box by the front door.)

"The Occupy movement takes over the entryway. The 99% demand redistribution of cookies, more time outside and fewer naps."

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Moo-ooo-oooooooves Like Jagger

I awoke this morning at 5 a.m. with "Moves Like Jagger" in my head. I only know the chorus, so it wasn't long before I had to get the heck up and distract myself.

It's now 7 a.m. and I don't need to try to control you... look into my eyes and I'll own you...

Ack.

Anyhoo----

The Bloggess invited her readers to bring someone to her "most fascinating dinner party IN THE WORLD." I'm totally bringing Anderson Cooper.


Friday Five: Literally Figurative

1. Do you prefer to be in the driver’s seat or in the co-pilot’s chair, literally and figuratively?
Figuratively, I prefer co-pilot. Literally, I prefer to drive.

2. Do you have a lot of baggage, literally and figuratively?
No and no.

3. How much junk have you got in the trunk, literally and figuratively?
Literally none. Figuratively, more than I'd like. Better too much than too little though.

4. At celebrations where people are drinking, are you more likely to be literally or figuratively drunk as a skunk?
Nah, I don't drink to that point. I think the last time I was over-served was over ten years ago. The Jeffs and I were at the Hyatt and I accidentally ordered a fishbowl-sized margarita. And drank it.

5. What’s something you enjoy that’s literally cheesy, and what’s something you enjoy that’s figuratively cheesy?
Literally- Torchy's Tacos queso. Figuratively - The X Factor.

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*Insert Name Here* Has Joined the Conference

Yesterday, I was on a conference call at the office, with our marketing director and probably 100 other people around the country. The first ten minutes of the thing, the guy running the meeting was barely audible underneath constant announcements of...

"Mindy Sparkles has joined the conference."

"Steve Cummings has joined the conference."

"Britney Paris has joined the conference..."

(Not sure why I seem to be making up stripper names this morning, but you get the picture.)

Please, meeting organizers. Turn off the announcements if you're hosting a conference call for more than maybe ten people.

Then we had to keep making sure our phone was muted because we were making nasty comments about the late people... and the announcements. Luckily only one of the tons of folks on the call accidentally left their phone unmuted. They made a couple of comments on the meeting before muting. Oops. Now THAT's entertainment!

I finally solved my printing problem from yesterday. I had to play with the printer settings (ended up using "photo" and high print quality for the best results) and also changed from matte photo paper to superdy-duperdy high quality inkjet paper (who knew?!). Just in case anyone else out there comes here searching for problems printing photos- there's some stuff to try. Incidentally, I just stuck a piece of cardstock behind the paper in the frame to give it more body. Yeah, I have every sort of paper imaginable.

I have hanging doorknob sign paper, people. It's a sickness.

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Good Morning!

I spent hours working on a hilarious Photoshop gift for someone this week. It looks good, but I can't get it to print correctly. Gaaaaaah! Someone shoot me.

You know the two Christmas commercials for Marshalls/TJ Maxx/Whatever-the-other-is, where the Glee-types sing a song all over the mall to the tune of "Up on the Housetop"? The first one... here it is:



At the end, instead of "...same great giiiiift," do you sing "...same great shiiiiit"?

We do, too!! 

Meet Me on Monday

1. Tomorrow I'm going to _________?
go to the mall for a particular present only available there, and to Pier 1 to buy an ornament for Jean's party this weekend.

2. Pudding or Jello?
usually pudding

3. What book are you currently reading?
Not reading one at the moment, but I would love to read Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero by Chris Matthews!

4. What is the first concert you went to see?
The first "real" concert at a concert venue was the Go-Go's at the Summit in Houston. My friends and I attended tons of Astroworld concerts before that. We were there literally almost every day during the summers in middle school. Not sure what our first big name concert was there.

5. What is your current weather?
68°F, light rain, winds south at 7mph, humidity 93%. It's similar to spring in Houston, only the humidity would be 110%.

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More on Ménage à Trois...

Found out the story behind the whole wine logo thing from this morning. Folie à Deux is the winery that makes the Ménage à Trois wines. From their website:

It’s Okay To Be A Little Crazy About Wine... In 1981, two wine-loving psychiatrists established a boutique winery they named Folie à Deux, a French term meaning “a passion shared by two.”

Hence, the dancing ladies!

Their Ménage à Trois wines are each a blend of three different grapes. I have tried and enjoyed the Red (Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot) in the past (thanks Cathy!), and now I have a bottle of their Moscato (Moscato grapes from different winemakers in different regions), which is as yet unopened. They also have mixed White (Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Moscato... ooh), Chardonnay (Chardonnay grapes from different Cali counties... Chardonnay makes me kinda gag, but I can see why YOU like it) and Rosé (Merlot, Syrah, Gewürztraminer... sounds yummy!).

These are inexpensive wines available just about everywhere, including Target. So try some!

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Matching Cohosts

But first... Why is the Ménage à Trois wine logo two women dancing?

*ponders*

So there were rumors that George Stephanopoulos was going to be replaced by Josh Elliott on Good Morning America. GMA denied it, so it's probably completely false, but it started discussion over how mismatched Robin and Steffy are, because she is so tall and he is so short. Josh is a burly sort of guy and looks more physically matched to her as a cohost.

I like George a lot! But I do always notice he seems really little next to Robin. So I had an idea- instead of giving George's job to Josh, they could find a woman littler than George to replace Robin. Jeff suggested Kelly Ripa. I was all, Yes!

Good Morning America with Kelly and Steffy.

OK. Maybe it's a good thing we're not in charge of casting.

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iPhone Battery Suckage

The iPhone has the most unpredictable battery ever. Love the phone. Hate the battery issues.

Some days I use my phone all day long and it has at least 20% battery when I go to bed. Other days I barely touch it and it's practically dead by the evening news. Not long ago, I charged it overnight and it was only at 93% by morning. Last night I went to bed with it at 45% (didn't charge it) and it is completely dead now. That's seven hours of standby eating half my battery.

It's so frustrating!

I can only guess that some apps are sucking my power during standby- perhaps the ones that use the GPS, though they shouldn't use it while the app is running in the background.

I want a single button on my screen that I can press to shut down every open app. A simple request, but no.

On a more blissful and blessed note, Jack and Diane had cutie baby Jacob yesterday!! Gotta call my uncle and give him the old "Hey Grandpa!" bit... Mwahaha!

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Ooh Baby Baby!

My cousin went into labor last night with the baby she never thought she would have. I am so excited for her that I could burst!! What an adventure she and her hubby are about to begin. The best one ever!

:-))))

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Fridaaaaaaay!

Borrowing the Friday Dance from Shane today...

\o\../o/..\o\../o/..\o\../o/..\o\../o/..\o\../o/..\o/

I'm starting a new thing here on the old blog. I'll post a FB status of the week, selected from my friends' statuses, on Fridays. Here we go...

          Facebook Status of the Week

          "I think Siri and I just had our first fight." -JP

(Heh.)

We were having lunch at Doc's yesterday when the Virginia Tech thing went down. We watched everything on the one news station of ten televisions otherwise showing sports, with no sound. After a bit, a displayed headline said that two people had been killed. Then it said they had caught the guy. Then it said more shots were being fired, at which point we weren't sure if they had never actually caught the guy at all, or they caught the wrong guy, or there were multiple shooters, or maybe someone was just hearing things. Then they started showing video from the previous shootings from 2007, which was very confusing until the year came up at the bottom of the screen. One really needs sound during these reports.

Very sad situation, and I can't imagine how freaked out the students must have been.

I've been doing aerobic kickboxing for four years now, and they pulled a brand new move out of their hat the other day- the "side punch." It's like you have an opponent standing about two feet to your side and slightly behind you (cuz that always happens). It's similar to the elbow, where you go from center position to elbowing the guy at a 90-degree angle straight to the side, but instead, you fling your entire arm to the side, and hit with your fist. After about two of those, your shoulder starts hurting. By the fourth one, you know it's going to be Motrin time in the morning. Unless you're 20. Then it's probably fine.

I have to say it feels more like a move from The Three Stooges than martial arts.

Nyuk nyuk.

Wow. Dating myself there. Moving on...

Friday Five: Toppings

1. What’s your favorite ice cream topping?
chocolate sauce

2. What’s your favorite pizza topping?
veggie - mushrooms, red onions, black and green olives, sun-dried tomatoes

3. What’s your favorite thing to sprinkle cocoa powder on?
eww. nothing.

4. What’s your favorite thing to put whipped cream on?
The only thing I like to put whip cream on is pumpkin pie. I don't like it on coffee or ice cream or any of the other things people put it on.

5. What do you like to put upon a cracker?
Brie

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Boop

Our kitties are about a year-and-a-half old now. Ever since we got them, we've done this pet-owner-ish weird thing, in that little voice people use when talking to their pets, where we put our fingertip on their nose and say, "Boop." Then there's usually a follow-up comment (when the cat looks at us like, WTF?) where we'll say, "I booped you!"

Well, Lauren saw this yesterday...

I mean, this is amusing anyway, but with all the booping that goes on in our house, it is freakin' hysterical!

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HEB Plus

Yesterday morning, Jeff and I were joking around about H-E-B Plus (an expanded version of a regional grocery store chain), whose commercial said they carry televisions and furniture. We were pondering what other random non-grocery things they sell. Used cars... Lingerie... Exotic reptiles...

Later:

Me (on the phone): There's an APD SWAT Team standoff nearby.
Jeff: H-E-B?
Me: A... P... D.
Jeff: Oh! I was thinking, H-E-B has a SWAT Team? Geez, they really have branched out.

Ahahaaaaaaa! Just try and lift a candy bar this holiday season... Suzanne Wade will show up with her red-shirted associates and spray your house with tinsel and snowballs.



Actually, H-E-B Plus probably carries ammo.

And loose diamonds... Live bait...

OK. I'm done.

:)

I have not done Lyrics of the Day in forever! I just heard this song on the radio and it's one of those that I've heard a million times, but it always touches me for some weird reason. I just love it.

Song Lyrics del Dia

...I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held on to
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you...

"Hanging By a Moment" Lifehouse

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Monday Meme

Sunday Stealing: The Blue Memory Meme, Part One

1) If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say?
Citizens of Earth, I beseech you to love and support each other, to make this world a better place for all of us. And... Gig 'em!!!

2) If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?
George Bush, Sr.

3) You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?
Sydney, Australia. It's summer and I've never been.

4) What do you think about most?
at the moment- my daughter

5) You have the opportunity to spend a romantic night with the music celebrity of your choice. Who would it be?
John Taylor of Duran Duran. Back in the day, it would have been him or Michael Hutchence of INXS. Oh. Yes.

6) You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?
My parents' divorce when I was 15.

7) What's your strangest talent?
No strange talents that I can think of!

8) What would be a question you'd be afraid to tell the truth on?
None. Fire away!

9) Ever had a poem or song written about you?
Nope. I've written a few, but no one has written one for me... yet. Let that be a challenge to you, Jeffery. Hee.

10) When is the last time you played the air guitar?
Just the other day, when that commercial with the family singing "Crazy Train" came on.



11) Do you have any strange phobias?
Nah

12) What's your religion?
I am a Christian, unaffiliated with a particular church at the moment. I was raised Catholic. In college I attended a Bible Church for a couple of years, which was a bit too fundamentalist for a Catholic girl. If I were a member of a church today, it would be a non-denominational Christian church. I have strong spiritual beliefs. I've just always been disappointed in the politics of the churches I've attended.

13) What is your current desktop picture? 
Texas A&M University wallpaper

14) When you are outside, what are you most likely doing?
walking the neighborhood

15) What's the last song you listened to?
"Good Life" OneRepublic

16) Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band?
The Beatles

17) What was the last lie you told?
I can't remember having told a lie in recent years.

18) Do you believe in karma?
I believe that you generally reap what you sow.

19) What is a saying you say a lot?
"I've got bigger fish to fry."

20) What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?
weakness- I sometimes keep my personal opinions to myself, to avoid unnecessary confrontations, then realize later that it might have been worth the argument. One can be too diplomatic.
strength- I can learn most new things well and very quickly

21) Who is your celebrity crush?
George Clooney

22) Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word: heart.
Austin's wonderful Championship Hearts Foundation, which provides free heart screenings for student athletes

23) How do you vent your anger?
I sing really loud to pissy music.

24) Do you have a collection of anything?
DVDs of musicals

25) What is your favorite word?
serendipitous

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Hyster......... something

Two weeks ago, on the same day my mammogram showed something (eek) that turned out to be nothing (whew), one of my girlfriends had some tests run and found out that she has a pre-cancerous uterine condition. I took her out to dinner that night and we chatted about it. She told me that she has to have a hysterectomy.

She said she wasn't planning on telling her mother about her lab results OR the hysterectomy. I said that her mother would want to know. She said she didn't want her to worry. We had the whole conversation you might imagine. She asked me if I would tell her mom, if she didn't. I said I would want to tell her, but I probably wouldn't be able to pick up a phone and actually do it, against my friend's wishes.

I very strongly encouraged her to tell her mom, because if her mother found out later, or if, Heaven forbid, something further happened and she needed the support, her mom would feel so awful that she hadn't known all along. Plus, you have a whole trust issue after that. And what are moms for, if not to worry about you and take care of you when you need them? That's the very reason we have Supermommy powers.

Then, as we're chatting along about whatever, she asked if I was up and around the day of my hysterectomy (elective, a few years ago because of obnoxious periods from Hell, totally worth it). I said they may have gotten me out of bed once at the hospital that day, but not really "up" until the next day at least.

She was confused.

Friend: They told me I would be up and around that afternoon, but I can't go back to work until the next day.
Me (shocked): The next day?!! Man, insurance companies are really running the system. Now we have drive-through hysterectomies?
Friend: Yeah, it's a day surgery.
Me: Are you sure you're having a hysterectomy? I was 3-4 days in the hospital and about another 3-4 days of recovery mode at home. And I'm pretty pain tolerant. Then you're not allowed to even drive for six weeks.
Friend: Oh. Hmmm... Maybe the doctor didn't say 'hysterectomy'?
Me: Maybe 'hysteroscopy'?
Friend: Maybe. I guess I need to call the doctor back.

Yeesh. Not that a hysteroscopy sounds as fun as a barrel of monkeys, but there is quite a difference between that and a hysterectomy.

It's been two weeks and she hasn't called the doctor back yet, much less made the surgery appointment, whatever it may be. Now I AM threatening to tattle on her.

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A Blender for Christmas?

Me: I think I want a KitchenAid 560 blender for Christmas.
Jeff: I am not getting you a blender for Christmas. That's terrible.
Me: Why? It's a nice one.
Jeff: I thought you wanted a grill pan! Oh. I guess that's kind of the same as a blender.

Kinda! LOL.

So I want a grill pan, a blender and the "Spongebob's Surf and Skate Roadtrip" game for Xbox. And of course world peace.


Friday Five: BRRR!

1. What’s your favorite thing about cold weather?
Snuggling up under a blanket with the hubby or the kiddo or both.

2. Soups and hot beverages seem to be everyone’s favorite cold-weather culinary combatant, but what’s another food that seems to take the bite out of the cold?
Chili

3. When the weather is just starting to turn cold but is not yet in full frigidity, what do you add to your bed until it’s time to break out the heavy artillery? (I said what, not whom!)
I replace the summer blanket with the thick electric blanket, but I don't turn it on. When it's really cold, I'll plug it in. I only turn it on to warm everything up before I get into bed. It's too hot to sleep with it on.

4. What household chore seems especially unkind in these colder months?
Taking out the trash. Brr!!

5. Among people you know, who seems most oblivious to cold weather?
JeffC. He was raised in it.

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Retail Therapy

Yesterday was pretty great! :)

But I can feel today sucking already. :(

I think it's going to be retail therapy day. Actually, this is the most wonderful time of the year for retail therapy, because we all have to shop for Christmas anyway. Shopping for others is always my favorite kind of shopping. It's the thrill of the hunt for perfect gifts!! Some cower and groan at the thought, but I love it.

Jeff's cousins from Missouri are going to be at the Christmas gathering in Dallas this year. I'm really looking forward to seeing them. We don't keep in close contact, so we don't know their tastes that well, but they're family, so gifts should be something a little more interesting than general purpose items along the stationery/photo frame line. I'm thinking Texas food gifts.

Everyone likes a little habanero salsa, yes?

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